Huge panic as new bird flu strain is found in a Taiwanese woman

A bird flu strain that health experts thought could not be contracted by humans has been detected in a woman in Taiwan.

This has now sparked panic that there could be an uncontrollable global pandemic ignited if dangerous flu symptoms are not identified at an early enough stage.

Currently, it is being downplayed as an isolated case but clearly this virus, as others have done previously, has the ability to transmit across different species.

The 20-year-old Taiwanese woman was first admitted into hospital in May of this year due to a lung infection. She was released from hospital after being treated with Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and antibiotics, according to the research published online in the journal Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

Roche’s Tamiflu reduces the severity and duration of influenza by preventing the virus from replicating within the body. It belongs to a group of medicines known as ‘neuraminidase inhibitors’.

These medicines prevent the influenza virus from spreading inside the body and so help to ease or prevent the symptoms arising from the influenza virus infection. Tamiflu came to worldwide prominence during the 2009 deadly H1N1 swine flu epidemic.

After one of the as yet unidentified woman’s throat swabs was forwarded to the Taiwan Centres for Disease Control, health experts confirmed she had the H6N1 strain of bird flu.

The patient was employed at a deli and had not apparently come into contact with any live birds, baffling investigators as to how she became infected. Numerous members of her family and friends subsequently developed flu-like symptoms, but nobody else tested positive for H6N1.

Ever since 1996 when the H5N1 bird flu strain spear in southern China in 1996, there has been a nervous tracking of its progress. After all, it has claimed the lives of over 600 people – the majority of deaths occurring in Asia.

China has been hit with various other bird flu strains to cause concern over the years, such as the H7N9 strain. There were 135 reported cases of H7N9 in eastern China between February and July of this year alone, 45 of which proved fatal. As yet though, no bird flu strains have been shown to mutate into a form that is easily transmitted among humans.

Marion Koopmans, a virologist at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands, said in a commentary accompanying the new report: “The question again is what would it take for these viruses to evolve into a pandemic strain?”

Ms Koopmans says there should be more thorough analysis of animal flu viruses and additional research into viruses that could cause a global problem. “We can surely do better than to have human beings as sentinels,” she wrote.

Deadly H7N9 avian flu spreads between humans

A potentially deadly strain of avian (bird) influenza virus appears to have transmitted between humans for the very first time.

Research published online by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) claims that the avian influenza A (H7N9) virus which has claimed dozens of lives in China this year, had been passed from a 60-year-old man to his 32-year-old daughter who was caring for him at the time.

The father and daughter lived in eastern China and the father had made frequent trips to a live poultry market. He suddenly became ill just days following his latest visit back in March and later died on 4 May due to multiple organ failure.

However, the man’s daughter had developed symptoms of her own just six days after her father’s admittance into hospital and actually died ten days before he did, on 24 April. She was in good health before caring for her father and had apparently not been in contact with any live poultry, which means the virus must have been passed to her from her father. Investigations later confirmed an identical virus strain in both patients.

Dr Peter Horby, senior clinical research fellow at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Hanoi, Vietnam, said: “The most likely source of infection for the daughter was her father, during the period that she cared from him whilst he was ill.”

He alleviated fears over other strains of avian flu however, noting that avian flu has been in existence for more than a decade and that they “have not progressed any further down the path towards a pandemic virus”. Dr Horby also said human-to-human transmission had been minimal for strains H5N1 and H7N7, and the swine origin flu virus H3N2v.

Up until the end of June, within China there had been in excess of 130 cases reported and 43 deaths since February. Despite Dr Horby’s assertions, there is huge fear that the outbreak could now spread amongst humans at a rapid rate.

According to available evidence, in the majority of instances the effected people had previously visited live poultry farms or had come into contact with live poultry approximately seven to 10 days prior to the emergence of their symptoms.

Symptoms begin with a high fever, cough and a shortness of breath. Often, the sufferer will then develop more severe illness such as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), septic shock and multi-organ failure leading to death.

Although the World Health Organization (WHO) state that no vaccine for avian influenza A(H7N9) infections in humans is currently available, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends Tamiflu (oseltamivir) for the treatment of H7N9 because many of the H7N9 viruses that have been studied are likely susceptible (sensitive) to this medication.

It is estimated that Britain attracts around 179,000 Chinese tourists a year, and it only takes one person carrying the virus for an outbreak to erupt and spread between people.

Tamiflu is available today through Medical Specialists Pharmacy from as little as £21.98 per pack of 10 capsules. You can buy Tamiflu online with or without a prescription at Medical Specialists, after completing a simple online consultation.

Bird flu strikes again with more deaths

It has emerged this week that two devastating strains of flu have broken out across the globe causing massive chaos. Yesterday health officials confirmed that the deadly H1N1 strain of the influenza A virus had caused the deaths of 11 people in Bolivia and infected an additional 873 people. This particular strain first came to global prominence in 2009 as it was the main component of what became known as ‘swine flu’ to many people. This is human, bird and swine flu viruses joined together with a Eurasian pig flu virus. This year it was revealed that staggering 579,000 people may have succumbed to the disease in the last three years, as only those fatalities confirmed by laboratory testing were included in original data.

The latest H1N1 epidemic although very serious, has not yet increased to that of a national crisis. Johnny Rada, director of the ministry of health’s epidemiology service, spoke out to try and restore some degree of calmness. He said, “At the national level, the situation is under control. The most affected area is in the west.” Rada’s comments are backed up by figures that show 606 of the cases emanating from the western department of La Paz, with the next highest department being the eastern area of Santa Cruz, where 167 cases have so far been reported. Bolivia’s Deputy Health Minister Martin Maturano, advised people to stay safe by eating well and making sure to regularly wash hands. It appears that those affected by this outbreak are the groups of people who are usually most at risk of catching the disease and include; the elderly, young children, those who have had a previous illness and have a general weak system and anybody with problems such as diabetes or hypertension. Authorities have yet to confirm if the virus came into human contact from pigs or birds.

Across the world in China however, authorities have already pinpointed the outbreak of flu seen there is definitely the H5N1 avian virus. Like H1N1, this is a subtype of the Influenza A virus and is more commonly referred to as ‘bird flu’ or ‘avian influenza’. Though it is considered an avian virus, there have been some instances of a human to human transmitting of the virus.

The Chinese agriculture ministry have confirmed that the H5N1 strain of avian flu has thus far claimed the lives of 1,600 chickens and a further 5,500 have been left suffering from it. Authorities have acted quickly and culled 156,439 chickens to stop the disease spreading further. It is rumoured that the outbreak began on a farm operated by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, whom some describe as a ‘semi-military government organisation’ consisting of two and a half million people. The epidemic follows the April outbreak in the Ningxia region of China, which saw 95,000 chickens fall victim to the disease. Also only last month it was reported that a young boy in Hong Kong had been diagnosed with bird flu.

There is currently no definite cure for either of the two strains of flu mentioned above. However it is widely acknowledged that oseltamivir (marketed by Roche as Tamiflu), effectively helps to prevent the influenza virus from spreading inside the body. The medication has even been at the core of many governments and organisation’s efforts previously when anticipating a potential H5N1 pandemic. It is available through Medical Specialists Pharmacy from as little as £21.98 per pack as we have dramatically lowered the price of Tamiflu recently to help out new and existing patients during this difficult recession.